Book Recommendations

[c.d.]

Just finished Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara (Book 1 of 2). An historical novel about events leading to the Declaration of Independence and the ensuing Revolutionary war against England. Covers all the major characters involved like John Adams, Sam Adams, Franklin, Washington, British General Gage and others. Being a novel you get a sense of their thoughts, feelings, strengths and weaknesses so that they come across not just as historical figures but real flesh and blood people. A really good unfolding of how this all came about.

Shaara is best known for his Civil War Series which is excellent but this was really good as well. Recommend.

https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Rebellio...s%2C139&sr=8-1

c.d.

[Lewis C]

I think that it maybe time to stop buying ripper-related books. I saw a book advertised over on JtRForums called Jack the Ripper: Dissecting the Truth by Roger Barber. I recognised his name because many years ago I bought a book called Who Was Jack The Ripper: A Collection of Present Day Theories and Observations from Camille Woolf’s Grey House Books. For those who haven’t seen the book, it was a collection of theories where each writer/researcher had a few pages to propose their theories (with a photo). Lots of well known names, Begg, Fido etc. The first 100 were signed and cost more I believe. I paid for a non-signed one but got sent a signed one by mistake which ended up worth well over £100. Sadly, a few years ago I was really short of cash so I sold three ripper books for around £250-300 (I think) and this one was one of them (the others were a Leonard Matters and a copy of The Killer Who Never Was by Peter Turnbull [worth £150 now]). If only… there’s a signed one on sale at Loretta Lay Books for £425!

Anyway, one of the theories was by a guy called Roger Barber. He’d had his theory in Criminologist (which I don’t have) and it was that the ripper was a marine stores man who committed suicide by almost cutting his own head off called Edward Buchan. Roger Barber, now retired has written a book, and I bought it. Let me say straight of…I’m by no means saying that this is a terrible or badly written book because it isn’t. (The forward is by Stewart Evans btw - who I believe was one of the writers in Who Was JtR) The problem comes because I did what I often find myself doing with ripper books these days. I skim through the first part of the book because, like everyone on here, I don’t need to be told about how terrible London was, or how the murders occurred. I’m not blaming the author by any means because it’s a necessary part of a book but, after paying £12.99, I’ve just found myself skimming past 152 of 173 pages. This means that I’ve only read £1.57 out of a £12.99 book.

And Buchan? My thoughts are the same now as they were then. There’s absolutely nothing to connect him to the murders.

Barber appeared in a recent Youtube video on Richard Jones channel. As I remember it, Barber took an approach he call psychological profiling. The Ripper attacked the wombs of women, the place where birth takes place, and Barber killed himself on his birthday, the anniversary of the day that he emerged from a womb. It was also the day of Mary Kelly's funeral, and the outpouring of grief supposedly might have affected him. The timing of his death fits well with the end of the murders, if Kelly was indeed the last. Also, Lawende thought the man he saw looked like a sailor, and his job or his father's would have given him easy access to sailor's clothing. And Barber believed JtR couldn't have sex and therefore wouldn't have had children, and Buchan didn't.

I don't see any reason to believe that he couldn't have been the Ripper, just not much reason to think that he was.

[Herlock Sholmes]

If she did, please let me know what she thought of it. Thanks.

c.d.

Will do.

[c.d.]

That one sounds good. It’s on my list but I did mention it to friend who was looking around for something to read so I’ll have to find out if she got it. She certainly intended to.

If she did, please let me know what she thought of it. Thanks.

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hello Herlock,

I know fiction is generally not your cup of tea but Before We Were Yours (which I reviewed earlier) is really exceptional.

c.d.

That one sounds good. It’s on my list but I did mention it to friend who was looking around for something to read so I’ll have to find out if she got it. She certainly intended to.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I think that it maybe time to stop buying ripper-related books. I saw a book advertised over on JtRForums called Jack the Ripper: Dissecting the Truth by Roger Barber. I recognised his name because many years ago I bought a book called Who Was Jack The Ripper: A Collection of Present Day Theories and Observations from Camille Woolf’s Grey House Books. For those who haven’t seen the book, it was a collection of theories where each writer/researcher had a few pages to propose their theories (with a photo). Lots of well known names, Begg, Fido etc. The first 100 were signed and cost more I believe. I paid for a non-signed one but got sent a signed one by mistake which ended up worth well over £100. Sadly, a few years ago I was really short of cash so I sold three ripper books for around £250-300 (I think) and this one was one of them (the others were a Leonard Matters and a copy of The Killer Who Never Was by Peter Turnbull [worth £150 now]). If only… there’s a signed one on sale at Loretta Lay Books for £425!

Anyway, one of the theories was by a guy called Roger Barber. He’d had his theory in Criminologist (which I don’t have) and it was that the ripper was a marine stores man who committed suicide by almost cutting his own head off called Edward Buchan. Roger Barber, now retired has written a book, and I bought it. Let me say straight of…I’m by no means saying that this is a terrible or badly written book because it isn’t. (The forward is by Stewart Evans btw - who I believe was one of the writers in Who Was JtR) The problem comes because I did what I often find myself doing with ripper books these days. I skim through the first part of the book because, like everyone on here, I don’t need to be told about how terrible London was, or how the murders occurred. I’m not blaming the author by any means because it’s a necessary part of a book but, after paying £12.99, I’ve just found myself skimming past 152 of 173 pages. This means that I’ve only read £1.57 out of a £12.99 book.

And Buchan? My thoughts are the same now as they were then. There’s absolutely nothing to connect him to the murders.

[c.d.]

Hello Herlock,

I know fiction is generally not your cup of tea but Before We Were Yours (which I reviewed earlier) is really exceptional.

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hello Herlock.

Glad you are enjoying Killers of the Flower Moon. If you like David Grann, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon is also really good.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-City...s%2C190&sr=8-1

c.d.

Hi c.d.

I finished Killers of the Flower Moon a while ago but I forgot to mention it. I’ll add the other two to my ever increasing list thanks.

[c.d.]

Hello Herlock.

Glad you are enjoying Killers of the Flower Moon. If you like David Grann, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon is also really good.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-City...s%2C190&sr=8-1

c.d.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Cheers c.d. it sounds good. The Killers Of The Flower Moon is a cracker.

[c.d.]

Just finished The Wager by David Grann. Grann also wrote The Killers of the Flower Moon which I highly recommend. As for The Wager, all I can say is wow! What a story. It is a true story, the account of His Majesty's ship The Wager. The year is 1740 and The Wager is an English man-of-war taking part in a secret mission to capture a Spanish Galleon loaded with gold and treasure. Throw in press gangs, rats, typhus, scurvy, incredible storms, shipwreck, mutiny, murder, cannibalism all rolled up in an absolutely incredible tale of survival. I highly recommend this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Wager-Tale-Sh...s%2C451&sr=8-1

c.d.

[c.d.]

Just finished Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. An absolutely excellent book. Fiction but based on true events namely the kidnapping of children of the poor during the depression in America (1930s) and selling them to rich families. Be aware that some of the scenes of physical and sexual abuse where they were housed waiting adoption are unsettling. It is also a mystery as there is a connection to a prominent modern day political family. A really mesmerising story, extremely well written and a page turner. Highly recommend.

Over 148,000 reviews on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Before-We-Wer...s%2C217&sr=8-1

c.d.

[c.d.]

Reading a real good book right now - The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston who also wrote The Monster of Florence. Rumors throughout history of a lost city in the jungles of South America where the streets are paved with gold and where an advanced civilization flourished and then mysteriously disappeared. Now there is modern evidence they could be true and an extremely advanced sonar system allows mapping from the air. Results show large man made structures in a pattern indicating a city. The author is invited to join an expedition to one of the most dangerous and remote places on earth. Poisonous snakes and insects, trees with leaves so razor sharp they cut right through clothes and skin, pathogens in the water and last but not least a curse from the devil himself over anyone who disturbs the city. After their return tragedy struck. Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal - and incurable - disease.

If you like true adventure stories, I highly recommend this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-of-...s%2C581&sr=8-1

c.d.

[c.d.]

Just finished The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. A true story and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2001 a group of men attempted to cross into the U.S from Mexico illegally. They got lost in the desert of Southern Arizona and were abandoned by the coyote who they had paid to lead them. 14 of them died horrible deaths from exposure and dehydration. A tragic story and a very good overview of the whole immigration problem from all sides. Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Highwa...s%2C142&sr=8-1

c.d.

[c.d.]

Just ordered this from amazon. A tragic story but apparently highly regarded in outdoor circles. A simple mistake and not being prepared cost this middle aged woman her life. A true cautionary tale.

https://www.amazon.com/When-You-Find...s%2C298&sr=8-1

c.d.